If you do not exercise regularly, then you are doing your health a lot of harm. There are several benefits of physical activities, such as running that you’ll learn to enjoy once you start exercising. These health benefits include:
Weight Control
You should not wait until you are overweight to begin exercising. If you engage in exercise regularly, you will be able to maintain a healthy weight without further ado. This happens because when you exercise, you burn calories. The more intense (running fast and far) your workout is the more calories you will be able to burn.
Mood Enhancer
The health benefits of exercising goes beyond physical benefits. Physical exercise stimulates the production of various brain chemicals that will make you felling relaxed and thus happy. Your mood will also be enhanced due to the psychological boost you will be able to get by improving your appearance and knowing that you look good. This will also increase your self-esteem.
Stronger/Healthier Joints
In the past, people used to think that strenuous physical activities would wreck the joints. Today, it is a well known fact that the reverse is actually true. For example, running will reduce your chances of developing osteoarthritis, a condition that develops due to the breakdown of joint cartilage. The cartilage can deteriorate if you put too much weight on your joints, and this is very easy to do if you are overweight. Luckily, runners are more likely to have normal weight than those who do not run, and hence are less likely to develop osteoarthritis. In addition, you can increase blood flow to the cartilage in your joints by exercising, and this will strengthen and make your joints healthy.
Disease Prevention
Exercise reduces your chances of contracting many diseases. In fact, this is why people in the early stages or at risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis and other diseases are advised to exercise. For women, the fact that exercise reduces the probability of developing breast cancer should be enough incentive in itself to start exercising. In fact, regular physical activity also strengthens the heart and reduces ones chance of suffering a heart attack.
Long Life
Though many people wish to live long healthy lives, few know that exercising is one of the key ingredients of having long healthy lives. Yet, studies have shown that runners tend to have more healthy days than non-runners. Thus, exercise contributes both to the quality of the years of your life as well as their quantity. Researches attribute this effect to the increased cardio fitness, decreased inflammation and improved response to vaccination that runners acquire. Energy Boost
If you tire too easily, then you should start exercising regularly (if you are not already doing it). Regular exercise will help your body’s tissues to deliver oxygen to all the limbs and organs, thereby making them more energetic and efficient in their operations. This benefit extends to the muscles as of the heart and lungs too.
The above are not the only health benefits of exercising, there are many others. The key, however, is to keep it regular because a short burst of physical activity followed by a prolonged period of sedentary living will not help you.
Lexi Swarner is a fitness coach from Michigan, who blogs on a website that provides reviews for running shoes. She also enjoys vacationing with family, cooking and reading in her spare time.